Welcome to the Year of the Meatball. I was going to predict it here first, but apparently other media have already predicted it. Still - meatballs. In other food items, a few restaurants around town are going on Janauary vacation. So civilized. Also, your new regimen might not be so smart.

Your January liquor detox is a thoroughly futile exercise, as far as liver health goes, according to a British non-profit promoting liver health. You'd be much better off, liver-wise, simply not drinking so much the whole year round. (BBC News)

Don't Eat Like a Caveman, Food Safety News says in this debunking of the so-called paleo, or caveman, diet, which proscribes, along with usual suspects like sugar and dairy, things like legumes and grains. The paleo diet is not backed up by scientific research, the says the article, which recommends "a whole foods, plant-based diet (that) includes liberal quantities of vegetables, fruit and legumes, hearty amounts of whole grains, nuts and seeds, and sparing amounts of dairy, eggs, seafood, meat and refined sugar.

In very big restaurant news out of Chicago, Charlie Trotter announced that he will close his namesake landmark restaurant at the end of August, just after the restaurant celebrates its 25th anniversary. Trotter made the announcement just after a New Year's Champagne toast at his restaurant, which is generally credited with having elevated the Chicago dining scene. Business has been fine, Trotter said. He just wants to pursue some other things, like study and travel. (Chicago Tribune)

Dinner at Magdalena, the restaurant in the newly opened Ivy Hotel, is gorgeous. The space, the drinks and the food come together to create one of the loveliest dining experiences Baltimore has to offer.

For more than two decades, Canton Square has been home to some of the city's most famous Mexican food. Nacho Mama's, which opened in early 1994, has earned a longstanding reputation as a fun spot for hubcaps full of margaritas and likable, if not perfectly authentic, Mexican fare.